INFO.: Call (215) 365-7233 or visit www.simeonemuseum.org. For more on the cars’ back stories, download the Simeone Museum mobile app for Android or iPhone.

“The first race was conceived when the second car was built,” reads one of the walls at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in South Philadelphia.

The idea that the spirit of competition, like that found in auto racing, leads to a better quality of life, is the driving force behind what the museum does.

“It relates to the cars you and I drive every day,” said Simeone Museum communications manager Harry Hurst. Backing that statement up, he gave a historic example, linked to an automaker’s desire to create a superior race car. According to Hurst, Jaguar’s C-Type of the 1950s was the first car to have a reliable disc brake system. Disc brakes have since become the standard method of stopping your car. A 1952 Jaguar C-Type is one of the more than 60 rare racing sports cars on view from the personal collection of Dr. Fred Simeone.

Simeone first began to appreciate cars as works of art as a boy, when his father, a physician, would take him on house calls and the two would talk about cars.

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“I was the busiest neurosurgeon in America for a while. I couldn’t get away to travel very much. My spare time was spent mostly studying automotive history and finding cars,” said Simeone, who came to a decision around the time that he got married that he was going to look at his cars as an investment in a valuable commodity, such as stocks, bonds, coal or oil. Simeone began collecting 50 years ago, but said it wasn’t until after the 1980s, when now-coveted vehicles like Alfa Romeos of the 1930s, the 1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa and the 1927 Bentley 3-Litre Speed Model skyrocketed in value. Meanwhile, he said he does not intend to cash in this investment, and remarked that anybody trying to start a collection like his today is too late because of the gargantuan bids cars like the ones on display fetch at auction.

“It went from ‘Can I see your cars?’ to ‘How can you not display them?’,” Simeone said of starting a museum, which was named 2011 Museum of the Year by the International Historic Motoring Awards in London, and has been visited by driver Mario Andretti, celebrity sports car enthusiast Jay Leno and NASCAR’s Ryan Newman.

Arranged chronologically, and in diorama vignettes, so that you can appreciate different types of racing, as well as advances in aerodynamics, safety and engine design; not just any hard-to-find car can be in the Simeone collection.

1. It must be a sports car with headlights and fenders.

2. It has to have a history of road racing (not solely racing on a track).

3. The models have to be considered significant, or “winners” associated with superior racing performance. One of the museum’s noteworthy dioramas contains five of the actual cars that raced and took the checkered flag for international victories in their respective home countries — from the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring, to the 12-hour Sebring race in Florida, to the Mille Miglia — a grueling 1,000-mile race around the Italian peninsula with a course that included public roads.

4. Important components, such as the chassis, engine and body, must be original to the car. This no-restoration rule is flexible in the case of American cars because of the American automakers’ wildly inconsistent relationship with international racing.

Some of the memorable dioramas depict the places where these cars were driven — an Italian countryside-and-piazza setting, the Bonneville Salt Flats, Watkins Glen, N.Y., Le Mans and more.

Car No. 1 in the U.S. Department of Interior’s recently started Standards for Heritage Documentation registry of historic vehicles is the museum’s 1964 Cobra Daytona Coupe — the first of only six that were ever made — which set an impressive number of records, and at one time belonged to infamous music producer Phil Spector.

The precious few American cars to win major international races — a 1921 Duesenberg, a 1966 Ford GT40 MK II, and a 1967 Ford MK IV — are represented here.

Among many eye-catching pieces in the collection are the 1970 “Hippie” Porsche 917 — the all-time lap-record-holder at Le Mans that caused a stir with its psychedelic purple and green paint job — and the 1937 Bugatti 57G “Tank,” which was considered such a treasure that it was buried during World War II to hide it from the Nazis. The Simeone collection spans the years 1909 (an American Underslung) to a 2002 NASCAR Dyno Mule (part of the “Sporty Cars” and “History of NASCAR” annexes at the museum).

Hurst pointed out his favorite, the 1958 Aston Martin DBR1. “This car has been driven by three of the greatest drivers of all time,” he said, referring to Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jack Brabham and Jim Clark.

When asked if he had a favorite, Simeone named the “drop dead gorgeous” Mille Miglia-winning 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900. It’s one of only two still in existence, he said, and the other is owned by Ralph Lauren. “It’s magnificent to drive,” he added.

Wait, so these cars all still run?

Yes. In fact, Leno drove two of them during his visit, Hurst said.

At noon every second and fourth Saturday of the month, selected cars are taken out on the 3-acre track in back of the museum during Driving Demonstration Days. Each demonstration will have a theme — on Aug. 9 it’s “Stingray: Why is It Our Favorite Corvette?” and on Aug. 23 it’s “Racing in Style,” featuring the creators of the Alfa Romeo Monza, the Jaguar D-Type, the Ferrari three-seater, the Mercedes-Benz Gullwing and the Austin Healy. Check the website for changes.

Do they have any other events there?

A “Classic Motorcycles at the Simeone” exhibit will be on view Aug. 16-Sept. 12. The spotlight will be on Vincent /HRD, Brough Superior, and pre-1974, 250-cc-and-under motorcycles. A Kick-Start Party will be Aug. 16 and a motorcycle photography workshop is set for Aug. 17.

GM Racing Team Cadillac driver Andy Pilgrim will give a presentation on traffic safety and distracted driving at 11 a.m. Aug. 9. You need to pre-register for this seminar.

Also, the 100,000-square-foot Simeone Museum is also available to rent for meetings and special occasions.